Sleep Well Sweet Prince

Title: Sleep Well Sweet Prince

Rating: PG-13

Author: Lady Roisin

Beta: None, any errors are unintentional, but my own

Summary: The royal family attends the funeral of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth. While there, Aragorn faces ghosts from the past.

Warnings: References to a character death, some potentially disturbing imagery for sensitive readers, angst.

Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Tolkien. No money was or will be made off of this story, and it was written purely for entertainment. The scene in which Eldarion recounts the memory of spilling cream on Imrahil is borrowed from Linda Hoyland’s lovely story “The First Feast”. The scene is borrowed with permission, and I highly recommend you read “The First Feast” if you haven’t because it’s a wonderful story. Thank you again, Linda!





Sleep Well Sweet Prince - Part 2

The feast after Elphir’s coronation was a stark contrast to the recent one held in Imrahil’s honor. Yet a somber energy still lingered in the richly decorated hall. Not even Prince Elphir managed a smile. Aragorn watched the Lord of Belfalas raise his glass for yet another long winded toast. But Aragorn’s mind was not upon the words that were spoken. Instead he brooded over the ritual of the celebration.

Why was it that Kings never lived to see their sons follow in their footsteps? Yet Aragorn knew why. Coronations were never meant to be joyful occasions, at least not for the one who wore the crown. It was just another event to remind them all of their mortality, and that even the greatest of men came to dust in the end.

Once the toast ended and Aragorn could make a polite temporary departure, he rose from the table.

“I will be back” The King murmured to his Queen as she looked up at him curiously. Aragorn moved stealthily from the room before others would notice. The wind outside was cold enough to cause even the most robust of souls shiver. Aragorn was about to take out his pipe when he noticed a figure seated upon the steps that led out into the gardens. He took a few steps forward before Aragorn recognized Aeariel’s features.

The King stopped still in his tracks as the memories returned. The images were still clear. Aragorn could still see the noblewoman’s face. Her ashen skin was taught against the bones of her face and hands. Most of the time her eyes were closed, but Aragorn could still see that hollow glassy stare in her green eyes. The pain and hopelessness forever locked in her gaze.

Not a single healer could save Elphir’s wife. Not even the healing hands of Envinyatar could halt her journey past the circles of the world. He had been her last hope, and he failed her. The memories shifted and a young child stood beside her mother’s bed. Tear’s clung to the girl’s lashes even though her father bid her not to shed a single one for her mother’s sake. The girl wiped them away hurriedly only to have new ones take the place of the ones brushed away by the back of a sleeve.

“Is it because I haven’t been good enough? Naneth, please don’t go! I swear I’ll try harder!” The girl spoke amidst choked sobs. She reached out to desperately grasp her mother’s hand. Her voice was strangled amidst the hiccups and sobs.

“I love you Naneth, and I promise if you stay I’ll work really hard at loving you even more and I’ll never ever be bad again, I swear.”

The girl began to cry harder as her father started to pull her away from the side of the bed. She clung to her mother’s hand and begged to be allowed to stay. Aragorn could see the fear in the child’s eyes. She was too young to understand death, yet she was old enough to know once she left the room she would never see her beloved mother again. Aragorn watched horrified as Elphir began to gently pry his daughter’s fingers from the dying woman’s hands. He yearned to say something, to protest. Why hadn’t he? It was true, he was not the child’s father, and he had no business telling Elphir how to handle his daughter. Yet Aragorn regretted that he had not spoken up. Had he been that afraid of causing political strife with allies? Oh what a fool he had been!

Instead Aragorn had done nothing as he watched Elphir carry his sobbing daughter from the room as she cried out for her mother. It was true that Elphir later regretted his actions as a distance was forever placed between him and his only daughter. Elphir had acted out of his own grief and despair, but the mistake was never fully mended or undone.

Elphir had sent Aragorn from the room also in a grief driven rage. It was then that the King saw the girl cradled on her grandfather’s lap as she wept bitterly into his chest. Imrahil held the child close as he murmured comfort to her. It was a side of the stern war hero that Aragorn had never seen until then. It was well known that Aeariel was special to the late Prince of Dol Amroth. She was the only one besides Lothíriel who could soft the austere features of the elderly lord. It was obvious to many that Aeariel was closer to Imrahil than she was to her own father. And after her mother passed, he was just about the only one she had to really turn to. There was no doubt that this loss had been an especially difficult one for her.

Aragorn turned his gaze back to Aeariel. The King sighed as he felt a slight nudge. He looked about, but no one else was around. Where had it come from? Aragorn turned his eyes back to Aeariel. He had failed her in the past. But maybe he was brought to this moment as a second chance to try and set things right. As Aragorn came closer, he noticed Aeariel shivering in the cold. She did not have a cloak or shawl to even help shield against the elements. Not even the heaviest velvet gown was enough to protect one from the elements. The King removed his mantle and carefully placed it over the maiden’s shoulders. It was made more for ceremony than protection from the cold. At least it carried the warmth from his body upon it and was better than nothing.

Aeariel startled as she felt the weight of the fabric rest upon her. She looked up to see the King looking down at her with a concerned smile.

“You should not linger out here, my lady. You will catch cold.”

“I don’t really care. At least then I can be allowed to linger in my chambers away from the others.” Aeariel whispered bitterly. Aragorn frowned as he sat down next to his future daughter in law. He winced slightly at how cold the stone was.

“Well, I would care if you fell ill. It would not be fair, especially when you have been such a gracious hostess to us all.”

Aragorn frowned as he looked at Aeariel’s face. He could tell by the puffy skin underneath her eyes that she had been crying. It would not do for a proper lady to cry in public, especially among such important guests. After becoming King and being married for a number of years, Aragorn began to gain a new understanding of the opposite sex. He was surrounded by women more so than he had ever been before in his life.

In the past he had known women through those in poetry and stories, along with those he had encountered along his many long journeys into the world. But now that he was among them on a daily basis, he began to see a broader picture. The lives of noblewomen were not always kind. They did not have the same freedoms as those who inhabited the villages and country homesteads. Gondor seemed especially strict when it came to the protocol for its women of gentle birth. It was true, Aragorn still didn’t really fully understand yet, and he wasn’t sure if he ever would. But at times like this, one should be free to grieve, no matter who they were. It seemed terribly unfair that one so young should have to carry such burdens in total silence and with a stoic face.

Aragorn wasn’t quite sure how to open up a conversation with Aeariel. Instead he reached out for her hands. They felt like blocks of ice and so he went about the task of rubbing warmth back into them.

“There really is no need to fuss over me, your majesty. I shall be alright.” Aeariel said blankly. Aragorn looked up to see in time to see the tears forming underneath the maiden’s eyelids before she turned her face away.

“You are to be a member of my household soon. It is only natural for me to show concern.” Aragorn remarked kindly. “Besides, I could not in good conscience let you go through this alone and still consider myself a true friend to your grandfather.”

Aeariel nodded slowly as she bowed her head. “I only wish I knew how to let him go. But I cannot. I could not even say a proper goodbye at the funeral.”

Aragorn nodded slowly. “I think most feel the same as you when faced with loss. It doesn’t always ease the pain. But at least you can know you are not alone.”

There was a long silence between the two before Aeariel spoke up. “I wish he could be present for the wedding. I wish I could have seen the pride in his eyes. After Naneth passed, I often felt like he was the only one who understood me at all, at least until Eldarion came into my life.”

Aragorn reached out to take one of Aeariel’s hands. “Your grandfather will be there. So long as you carry the memories of him, a part of him will always be near you.” The King looked down at his feet as he released a heavy sigh.

“I am sorry that I wasn’t able to save your mother.”

Aeariel turned her head so that she looked at Aragorn. His statement caught her off guard. He was the King, and Kings didn’t have to apologize for anything. At least that was the myth she believed. It was very obvious she had much to learn about the man who was about to become her father in law.

“It wasn’t your fault. She had been sick for as long as I could remember.”

Aragorn turned sad eyes towards the maiden. As he looked into her face, he realized why he was so affected by her mother’s untimely death. He had never fully reconciled his own mother’s passing. They shared the same pain, the same loss. Aeariel met the King’s eyes, and recognized the understanding carried within them. She knew parts of Aragorn’s story through Eldarion. In that moment, Aeariel realized she could extend trust to more than just her grandfather and Eldarion. Her heart was touched by the compassion in Aragorn’s eyes. It broke past the wall Aeariel held up for so many years against so many. The tears fell from her eyes now that there free to flow the way they needed to.

The King smiled sadly as he held his arms out to his son’s fiancé. Aeariel needed no further encouragement as she dropped her head to the King’s shoulder and allowed the floodgates to open. Once Aeariel allowed the tears to run their course, she released a heavy sigh and murmured sheepish thanks.

“When I was younger, I swore my mother was still around, even though I couldn’t see her. It was almost as if I could sense her presence.” Aeariel turned to meet Aragorn’s eyes once more. “Do you think that makes me crazy?”

Aragorn shook his head and gave Aeariel a small smile. “Not in the least, my lady. There were times when I was in the lonelier, darker places of the world that I sensed my own mother’s presence by my side. I don’t think they are really as far away as we fear. The pain never fully heals, at least not in this life. But I do often find comfort in knowing our loved ones have found their peace, and that a part of them is always near. No, I don’t really believe that we are parted from them for too terribly long. But I am sure if they could speak to us now, they would want us to live, truly live with the time we have.”

The King stood from his seat upon the steps before he offered a hand to help Aeariel rise. “And speaking of living, it really is too cold for you to be out here without an adequate cloak. It would not do at all for you to catch your death from cold!”

At last Aeariel did not protest. Instead she offered a small smile. Yes, maybe things would be alright after all. And the King spoke wisely. Both Imrahil and her mother would want her to live. And even though there had always been a distance between Aeariel and her father, she knew he needed her upon this day. At last Aeariel began to understand her grandfather’s words. No, it wasn’t too late, and today was as good as any day to try and start fresh.

---------------------------

Just as Aragorn predicted, Aeariel did fall ill. It was nothing more than a simple cold, but Aeariel felt awful. The only good thing about it was Eldarion insisted on tending to her needs. Aeariel laid back against the pillows after Eldarion fluffed them to his satisfaction. The Prince carefully tucked the covers around his beloved, making certain she was warm enough. He disappeared from her bedside just long enough to tend to the fire.

“There, that is better. Is there anything else you would desire to have?” Eldarion asked as he returned to his seat beside Aeariel’s bed. The maiden smiled and shook her head.

“You’ve tended to just about every need I could require, my love. Now come, keep me company for just a little while longer.”

The two sat in silence for a long while, each lost in their own thoughts. At last Aeariel reached out to take Eldarion’s hand as she smiled.

“I am glad you are here with me.”

Eldarion returned the smile as he grasped his betrothed’s hand. “I would not wish to be anywhere else.”

Aeariel looked down at their hands as her thoughts turned to her grandfather just as they had so many times over the past weeks. “He was so proud when he learned of the betrothal.”

The Prince laughed as he shook his head. “It’s amazing how things have changed. I’ll never forget the first formal feast I was allowed to attend. I’ll never forget to look on his face when I accidently spilled the cream from the dessert all over the front of your grandfather’s tunic.”

Aeariel’s eyes went wide. “You didn’t!”

“I’m afraid it’s true. I was still very young, and despite my mother’s instructions to ask for another utensil should I drop one, I bent to fetch the fallen spoon and knocked over the entire dessert in the process. I thought for sure it would cause a war, or cause something horrible to happen.”

Aeariel couldn’t help but laugh. She could almost see the look on Imrahil’s face. “Oh my goodness, I hope he wasn’t too hard on you. I know he could be stern at formal gatherings.”

Eldarion shook his head with a smile. “All was well in the end, and the incident forgotten. Well, it was forgotten by everyone but me!”

“Oh, you think that is terrible! I should tell you about the time I had come to my grandfather’s office to show him my embroidery. I had placed the hoop down onto a chair without thinking that Grandfather would sit down upon it! I never heard him yelp in such a manner before. From then on I took care never to leave an embroidery hoop with pins upon a chair again!”

Eldarion winced as he nodded. “That is good to know, meleth nín!”

Aeariel shook her head. “Grandfather gave me this kitten we called Snowflower. She was a pretty creature with a gray coat and white spots, hence her name. She went everywhere with me the first two years of her life. Even though Grandfather advised me not to bring Snowflower along for a state feast, I snuck the kitten along. Everything went well at first. I fed Snowflower scraps of food I did not care for, and no one was none the wiser. But then I made the mistake of dripping some ice water upon Snowflower’s head. She leapt from my lap and sprinted across the long table in a mad frenzy! Goblets were knocked over while food was splattered all over the table cloth and everyone’s fine garb!”

Eldarion howled out in laughter. Both of them laughed until their sides hurt and tears streamed from their eyes.

“Oh goodness, if our children take after us, I have a feeling they’ll keep the entire palace staff on their toes!” Eldarion commented as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The two smiled at eachother for a long moment. The thoughts of their life together were on both their minds. It wouldn’t be much longer now. Aeariel reached and clasped Eldarion’s hand in her own.

“I don’t think I could have gotten through all of this without you here.”

Eldarion smiled gently as he brought the back of Aeariel’s palm to his lips. “It may be the first, but it won’t be the last we shall go through times like this. But it helps to remember the brighter days. It is my hope that we shall have many in store for us.”

Aeariel could not find the words to respond properly to her fiancé’s declaration. Instead she sat up to embrace him. Little by little she was beginning to understand Imrahil’s words about learning to truly live life, and not just walk through it without joy or color. Aeariel lived her whole life in a strict proper state. Imrahil had helped to shape the young woman she was. But it was Eldarion who breathed life into her being, and made her more than just another stoic noble woman. Now Aeariel understood why Imrahil had such faith in Elessar’s son. They were made for eachother, and there was no doubts left about that now.

As hard as it was to say goodbye, Aeariel realized she didn’t have to know how. All she had to do was allow herself to live and allow her life to serve as a legacy to her grandfather’s memory.